Weapon tower for a combat unit

ABSTRACT

Turret ( 12 ) fitted with automatic canon and intended for a combat unit, said turret ( 12 ) comprising a turret housing ( 14 ) which is intended to be mounted on the outside of the combat unit and can rotate about a substantially vertical axis, and in which turret housing ( 14 ) there is a weapon holder ( 16 ) for pivotably supporting a canon about a horizontal axis, which canon has a barrel ( 20 ) projecting from the turret housing ( 14 ) and a rear part ( 22 ) with associated loading mechanism ( 24 ) situated inside the housing ( 14 ). At least one ammunition magazine ( 26, 28 ) is arranged to the side of the rear part ( 22 ) of the canon and has an outlet ( 29, 31 ) for the ammunition belt situated in such a way that the latter can be conveyed from a rear part of the magazine and guided forwards along an underside ( 33 ) of the magazine and thereafter curved through ca. 90° about an axis substantially at right angles to the plane of the belt for feeding the projectiles to the loading mechanism ( 24 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to an unmanned and compact turretfor a combat unit, in particular for a combat vehicle, said turret beingfitted with automatic canon and comprising a turret housing which isintended to be mounted on an outside of the combat unit and can rotateabout a substantially vertical axis, and in which turret housing thereis a weapon holder for pivotably supporting a canon about a horizontalaxis, which canon has a barrel projecting from the turret housing, and arear part with an associated loading mechanism situated inside thehousing, at least one ammunition magazine being arranged in the turretfor accommodating a projectile-supporting chain belt which can on theone hand fold between individual chains of the belt about an axissubstantially parallel to the projectiles and on the other hand cancurve in its own plane about an axis situated outside the belt andsubstantially at right angles to the plane of the belt.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

[0002] In modern combat vehicles, there is an ever increasingrequirement for small, compact and unmanned turrets equipped withautomatic canon which can be remote-controlled from an operatorposition, for example in a crew module underneath in the vehicle. Forthis purpose, the turret must be able to accommodate the necessaryelectrical and mechanical guidance equipment for the automatic canon,optical instruments, such as IR cameras, lasers, CCD cameras, sensors,etc., and at least one ammunition magazine from which projectiles are tobe fed via chain belts to a loading mechanism located in the rear partof the canon. An additional requirement is that external parts of theturret should be designed to give the lowest possible radar and IRsignature. A factor which greatly influences the dimensioning of theturret is the position of the ammunition magazine or magazines and thearrangement of the conveyor for the ammunition belts running out fromsaid magazine or magazines.

[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,185 discloses an arrangement for feedingammunition into an automatic weapon in a helicopter gun turret. Theammunition magazine is positioned a substantial distance behind theweapon, and the ammunition is fed in a wide and space-consuming looparound the weapon.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,138 discloses a manned turret with theammunition magazines positioned far below the weapon, with a conveyorsystem which allows ammunition to be fed to an elevatable weapon. Theconveyor loops (chain belts) of the feed system here require arelatively large space both vertically and horizontally, for whichreason the turret, in addition to the area for the crew, iscorrespondingly larger and thus not optimally compact.

[0005] DE-C1-4 126 688 discloses a heavy combat vehicle with an unmannedturret fitted with canon, the ammunition being fed from a position inthe vehicle body underneath.

[0006] Solution Provided by the Invention

[0007] It is therefore an object of the invention to propose a new andimproved arrangement of ammunition magazines in turrets in order toachieve optimally small dimensions of same. For this purpose, the turretaccording to the invention specified in the introduction ischaracterized in that the magazine is arranged to the side of the rearpart of the canon and has an outlet for the ammunition belt situated insuch a way that the latter can be conveyed from a rear part of themagazine and guided forwards along an underside of the magazine andthereafter curved through ca. 90° about an axis substantially at rightangles to the plane of the belt for feeding the projectiles to theloading mechanism. Since the ammunition belt is normally stored infolded loops in a magazine casing to the side of the canon and theprojectiles are directed substantially at right angles to their futureposition in the canon and with their points directed away from thelatter, the width and length dimensions of the turret can be kept to aminimum. The belt can in this case be reeled off from above and led outvia an outlet opening at the rear of the magazine and thereafterconveyed along the underside of the magazine, for which reason thestructural height of the turret can also be kept relatively low. Beforethe projectiles are fed into the loading mechanism of the canon withtheir point directed forwards, the ammunition belt therefore has to becurved through ca. 90° about an axis oriented substantially at rightangles to the plane of the belt, which can be done with a radius ofcurvature of ca. 50 cm for an ammunition length of ca. 22 cm and calibreof 25 mm.

[0008] It is particularly expedient to arrange two ammunition magazinesplaced one on top of the other, these magazines being able to contain,in a known manner, different types of ammunition, for examplearmour-piercing projectiles or high-explosive shells. The outlets forthe respective ammunition belts are in this case arranged on a rear wallof the magazines.

[0009] Further features of the turret according to the invention will beexplained in detail below with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a front area ofa combat vehicle fitted with automatic canon and with aremote-controlled, compact turret according to the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a cutaway perspective view, from behind, of a turretaccording to the invention;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a side view of the turret in FIG. 2;

[0013]FIG. 4 is a cutaway perspective view, from underneath, of theturret according to the invention; and

[0014]FIG. 5 is a perspective view, from in front, of a turret accordingto the invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0015] In FIG. 1, reference number 10 generally designates a combatunit, here in the form of a caterpillar-tracked combat vehicle equippedwith a compact turret 12 of small dimensions fitted with automaticcanon, which turret 12 is mounted on a top face of the vehicle in such away that it can rotate about a vertical axis. The turret 12 comprises ahousing 14 in which there is a weapon holder 16 which supports anautomatic canon 18 pivotably about a horizontal axis H (FIG. 3) forelevating the canon. The canon 18 has a barrel 20 projecting from thefront face of the housing, and a rear part 22 with an associated loadingmechanism 24 on its underside.

[0016] Two ammunition magazines 26 and 28, each of which accommodates aloop 30 of ammunition projectiles 32 and 34, respectively, which arecarried on chain belts and are preferably of two different types, forexample armour-piercing projectiles and high-explosive shells, areplaced one on top of the other to one side of the rear part 22 of thecanon.

[0017] The chain belts B1 and B2 are of a type known per se and consistof individual chains (not shown) with elements gripping the cartridgecases, the chains of the belts being connected in an articulated mannerabout an axis parallel to the projectiles 32, 34 and articulated in theplane of the belt about an axis located outside the belt andsubstantially at right angles to its plane, so that the belt can becurved in order to change the positioning of the projectiles from aposition in which they lie substantially at right angles to thelongitudinal axis of the canon 18, with their points directed away fromthe latter, to a position in which they are oriented parallel to thecanon axis with their points directed forwards, as is shown in FIG. 4.The respective ammunition belts B1 and B2 run out of the magazines 26,28 from a rear and upper area of these (at 29 and 31 respectively),where they are deflected downwards and then conveyed forwards along theunderside 33 of the lower magazine 28 to a front area of the latter,where the belt is then curved in its own plane through ca. 90° intowards the loading mechanism 24 in the lower part of the rear part 22of the canon.

[0018] The actual guidance and curving of the ammunition belts B1 and B2from the magazines 26, 28 to the loading mechanism 24 can be obtainedusing deflector wheels, hinge plates, flexible guide channels and thelike (not shown), and the arrangement of these is preferably such thataccess is permitted to the ammunition from inside the operator positionvia the opening in the turret base 36 in the event of problems with thedelivery.

[0019] The ammunition magazines 26, 28 can preferably be inserted intoand removed from the turret 14 via an openable hatch 37 (FIG. 3) in arear wall of the housing for loading and reloading the magazines.

[0020] The turret 12 is also made extremely compact by the fact that theoptical instrumentation necessary for manoeuvring the vehicle and theautomatic canon, including IR cameras, distance lasers, CCD cameras,various sensors, etc., are placed as module units 38 (FIG. 2)immediately in front of the ammunition magazines 26, 28 to the side ofthe rear part of the canon, said modules being mounted on the weaponholder 16. As will be clear from FIG. 5, this optical instrumentationhas a front face 40 lying flush with a preferably plane front face 42 ofthe weapon holder 16 of the canon, by which means it is possible toobtain a favourable IR and RR signature of the turret 12, particularlyat normal elevation of the canon.

What is claimed is:
 1. Unmanned and compact turret fitted with automaticcanon and intended for a combat unit, in particular for a combatvehicle, said turret comprising a turret housing which is intended to bemounted on an outside of the combat unit and can rotate about asubstantially vertical axis, and in which turret housing there is aweapon holder for pivotably supporting a canon about a horizontal axis,which canon has a barrel projecting from the turret housing, and a rearpart with an associated loading mechanism situated inside the housing,at least one ammunition magazine being arranged in the turret foraccommodating a projectile-supporting chain belt which can on the onehand fold between individual chains of the belt about an axissubstantially parallel to the projectiles and on the other hand cancurve in its own plane about an axis situated outside the belt andsubstantially at right angles to the plane of the belt, wherein saidmagazine is arranged to the side of the rear part of the canon and hasan outlet for the ammunition belt situated in such a way that the lattercan be conveyed from a rear part of the magazine and guided forwardsalong an underside of the magazine and thereafter curved through ca. 90°about an axis substantially at right angles to the plane of the belt forfeeding the projectiles to the loading mechanism.
 2. Turret according toclaim 1, wherein the turret housing accommodates two ammunitionmagazines placed one on top of the other, the outlets for the respectiveammunition belts being arranged on a rear wall of the magazine. 3.Turret according to claim 2, wherein the belts are guided alongside eachother and substantially parallel to each other.
 4. Turret according toclaim 1, wherein each magazine can be inserted into and removed from theturret housing via an openable hatch in the latter.